Festivals of India - Pongal

A  fortnight after the New Year celebrations, the next festival we eagerly look forward to is Pongal. As a child growing up in Madras,  I always wondered what made this festival so exciting. Was it the school holidays, or eating karumbu (sugarcane) and other delicious Pongal items prepared at home or the 4 days celebrations of Bhogi, Pongal, Maatu Pongal and Kanu Pongal that made it all worthwhile. It was all of that and more. 

Marking the end of the tamil Marghazhi month, the new month of Thai maasam starts off with the Pongal celebrations throughout Tamil Nadu, coinciding with the festival of Sankranthi in other areas like Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra. There is so much optimism in the air, and the old adage holds true, Thai pirandhaal vazhi pirakkum, meaning, When the new month Thai starts, all opportunities open up. 

The 4 day Pongal festival starts with Bhogi and we assemble and light a bonfire to discard and burn the heaps of discards with so much excitement. The next day is Pongal, when the Pongal dish is prepared by boiling milk, sugar, rice and dhal and symbolically marked by the dish “boiling over” and joyously shouting out Pongalo Pongal. Maatu Pongal is celebrated the following day and cows are decorated with finery and brought from home to home which is such a beautiful sight. Kanu Pongal is celebrated on the 4th day by bringing the whole family together and praying for their well being and offering different flavours of rice to the crow. The 4 days are also celebrated as a ritual of thanksgiving for the harvest of the year.